Blues vs Caps. 7pm. 3/3/11

I had no major issues with ref'n. Missed blatant highstick on erskine. Missed slash on ovi. All in all pretty even IMHO. I didn't like the arnott slash. Refs discretion of course on the stick. But seemed 2 min for being strong. Same with semin hook. Dishy look like he got hands, but that typically gets called especially with the force he twisted the blue.

While I'm happy we won, I'm not one of those in the "Huzzah, we've turned the corner" camp. Winning is nice and all, but beating the Islanders(3rd worst team in the league) and St. Louis(worst road team) isn't enough to make me dance with jubilation.

Also, the second period was one of the sloppiest exhibitions of neutral zone play I've ever seen from a team. Thank god St. Louis was incapable of cashing in on it's numerous chances, because I'm not sure the Caps deserve to win if they're going to play like that.

Between the two teams we last played and the four coming up, you'd be hard pressed to argue that more than 2 of the 6 are anything but basement dwellers, let alone playoff caliber. So if we could not clown around in the neutral zone and hope our 22yo netminder bails us out, that would be a wonderful step in the right direction.

While I'm happy we won, I'm not one of those in the "Huzzah, we've turned the corner" camp. Winning is nice and all, but beating the Islanders(3rd worst team in the league) and St. Louis(worst road team) isn't enough to make me dance with jubilation.

Also, the second period was one of the sloppiest exhibitions of neutral zone play I've ever seen from a team. Thank god St. Louis was incapable of cashing in on it's numerous chances, because I'm not sure the Caps deserve to win if they're going to play like that.

Between the two teams we last played and the four coming up, you'd be hard pressed to argue that more than 2 of the 6 are anything but basement dwellers, let alone playoff caliber. So if we could not clown around in the neutral zone and hope our 22yo netminder bails us out, that would be a wonderful step in the right direction.

I'm not quite so doom and gloom however I agree to an extent, specifically about the 2nd period.

While I'm happy we won, I'm not one of those in the "Huzzah, we've turned the corner" camp. Winning is nice and all, but beating the Islanders(3rd worst team in the league) and St. Louis(worst road team) isn't enough to make me dance with jubilation.

Also, the second period was one of the sloppiest exhibitions of neutral zone play I've ever seen from a team. Thank god St. Louis was incapable of cashing in on it's numerous chances, because I'm not sure the Caps deserve to win if they're going to play like that.

Between the two teams we last played and the four coming up, you'd be hard pressed to argue that more than 2 of the 6 are anything but basement dwellers, let alone playoff caliber. So if we could not clown around in the neutral zone and hope our 22yo netminder bails us out, that would be a wonderful step in the right direction.

This upcoming back-to-back will be a good test.

The first has all the makings of a trap game and the second will be against a contender that will definitely be pumped for the game while the Caps will be tired from the day before. Both are also road games.

Our players need to put themselves into position better to get the calls.

And show mojo some Crosby film on how to take a trip and still get scone chance. I don't mean that derogatory way. ITs an art.

Nobody shows that they are a rookie on this team more than MoJo. I think if he was a second year player in all the same situations this year he'd easily have more than twice the amount of goals he has now, definitely a better +/-. He will definitely come around though, huge upside.

While I'm happy we won, I'm not one of those in the "Huzzah, we've turned the corner" camp. Winning is nice and all, but beating the Islanders(3rd worst team in the league) and St. Louis(worst road team) isn't enough to make me dance with jubilation.

Also, the second period was one of the sloppiest exhibitions of neutral zone play I've ever seen from a team. Thank god St. Louis was incapable of cashing in on it's numerous chances, because I'm not sure the Caps deserve to win if they're going to play like that.

Between the two teams we last played and the four coming up, you'd be hard pressed to argue that more than 2 of the 6 are anything but basement dwellers, let alone playoff caliber. So if we could not clown around in the neutral zone and hope our 22yo netminder bails us out, that would be a wonderful step in the right direction.

They still have to work out the kinks, particularly the amount of odd-man breaks. Would also like to see them stop starting so slow and have better offensive zone time, hopefully with the remaining 17 games they put it all together.

I may have sounded too harsh. I like that Wideman was brought in, too. I guess I haven't caught the great plays he's been making. He has been effective and solid overall from what I've seen. He's just made a number of gaffes that will piss us off in the playoffs. Evidently, that's Wideman's game: risk/reward. victory/fail. But just being able to play this many minutes helps right now.

Green is missed. Get Well Soon, Mike!

Prime example of one that comes to mind from last night...he's behind the net to the left and he makes a sweeeeeeet touch pass between the forcheckers leg, out in front of our net, that starts a nice breakout. That pass was very risky....forward could have picked it off taken two steps and been in scoring position. It was a subtle little pass, but highly skilled.

Every Defender makes mistakes that piss fans off. It's how it is. Dude is also a minute muncher....nice to have.

Prime example of one that comes to mind from last night...he's behind the net to the left and he makes a sweeeeeeet touch pass between the forcheckers leg, out in front of our net, that starts a nice breakout. That pass was very risky....forward could have picked it off taken two steps and been in scoring position. It was a subtle little pass, but highly skilled.

Every Defender makes mistakes that piss fans off. It's how it is. Dude is also a minute muncher....nice to have.

Sounds like a Green, only with a better playoff track record. Without quite the skill-set.

Wideman was, dare I say, Alzneresque in stopping that one rush by kicking his leg out. I've been VERY happy with him. He's been positionally sound, the puck has been getting out of the zone much more effectively when he's on, and he has skill on the offensive end. I can't wait to see our full stable of defenders once Greenie gets back.

As for being all giddy over 3 straight wins, sorry but not feeling it. Two were squeakers against the Isles and the third against a mediocre St. Louis team. I'm seeing the same sloppy, disorganized play . Actually, some of the sharpest play has been by the new guys. Read that as you would like.

While I'm happy we won, I'm not one of those in the "Huzzah, we've turned the corner" camp. Winning is nice and all, but beating the Islanders(3rd worst team in the league) and St. Louis(worst road team) isn't enough to make me dance with jubilation.

Also, the second period was one of the sloppiest exhibitions of neutral zone play I've ever seen from a team. Thank god St. Louis was incapable of cashing in on it's numerous chances, because I'm not sure the Caps deserve to win if they're going to play like that.

Between the two teams we last played and the four coming up, you'd be hard pressed to argue that more than 2 of the 6 are anything but basement dwellers, let alone playoff caliber. So if we could not clown around in the neutral zone and hope our 22yo netminder bails us out, that would be a wonderful step in the right direction.

At this time of year, winning is more than nice. It's necessary, no matter who they play. They've won 6 of 8 and have not only stayed in contention, but have creeped to within the division lead and amazingly the conference lead isn't out of the question. For a team that gets talked about like a train wreck here, that's not too shabby.

Another thing too, it's pretty obvious now that other than some blips in the road, pretty much the majority of Caps games are going to be 2-1, 3-2, etc type battles, whether they're playing a basement dweller or a top seed. I'm sure we'd all love to see 6-1 wins every night but that isn't going to happen.

I'm hopeful that things will keep jelling as they get closer to the playoffs. If the PP can somehow improve especially with the new additions, that would be gravy. The next long stretch should tell a lot, with 8 of 11 on the road and the majority of those being playoff teams.

-I really, really like Hendricks and Bradley on the same line. They were punishing people. That could be gold in the playoffs.

-Sturm seems to get himself into really good scoring positions, just hasn't finished. He'll be a very nice complementary player on one of the top 3 lines. Intelligent movement in all 3 zones.

-Wideman looked solid again, but I liked him with Hannan better. Hannan-Wideman is a very good veteran and durable pairing. Something the Caps haven't had post lockout.

-Despite being "run down" and "finished", Arnott is twice the player Steckel is. Significantly faster both mentally and physically and can still bring it on offense. I think he'll be a huge boost on an off the ice for the team.

-I mentioned it either before the season, or early in the season, but I think Knuble needs to get every 4th or 5th game off. The hands and the mind are there, but the legs look tired. Preserve his wheels a bit for the postseason. That might not be a bad thing to do with Arnott either, if the post-trade jump in his form wears off.

-I really, really like Hendricks and Bradley on the same line. They were punishing people. That could be gold in the playoffs.

-Sturm seems to get himself into really good scoring positions, just hasn't finished. He'll be a very nice complementary player on one of the top 3 lines. Intelligent movement in all 3 zones.

-Wideman looked solid again, but I liked him with Hannan better. Hannan-Wideman is a very good veteran and durable pairing. Something the Caps haven't had post lockout.

-Despite being "run down" and "finished", Arnott is twice the player Steckel is. Significantly faster both mentally and physically and can still bring it on offense. I think he'll be a huge boost on an off the ice for the team.

-I mentioned it either before the season, or early in the season, but I think Knuble needs to get every 4th or 5th game off. The hands and the mind are there, but the legs look tired. Preserve his wheels a bit for the postseason. That might not be a bad thing to do with Arnott either, if the post-trade jump in his form wears off.

imagine if fehr comes back and chimera gets demoted to the forth, we can have a line of chimera-hendricks-bradley, now that would be scary

The only change I'd make is Fehr over Chimera, though it seems like Chimmer has ingratiated himself enough with the coaches (the "A" ) that I believe they'd sit Sturm first.

Anyhow, I just want them to find 2nd and 3rd lines that work. The 1st and 4th should be on by the time the playoffs roll around. They'll need secondary scoring. That means either the 2nd becomes lethal or between the 2nd and 3rd you've got at least two lines with chemistry. I'm not yet sold on this "Wheels Line".

Worth noting that in this game Chimera didn't take a PK shift and Sturm replaced him it seems. Even below full speed, Sturm has a better head for that responsibility. He's a more reliable two-way player and as long as he's moderately productive offensively I'd definitely prefer him to Chimera. He thinks the game better.

Great vision from Ovi to see Hannan. His passing has improved a lot over his career. You never learn unless you try and he is passing a lot more these past 3 months.

I never watched Hannan pre caps days but I would venture a guess he has never been so active in the offensive end as recently. What a great pickup he was.

And it appears George looted Florida for Wideman. Their fans think it was a salary dump but still wanted a better return = good trade for us. If Green misses the playoffs, it should turn out a great trade for us.

These offensive right shot D we hord are close to being fully interchangeable. That will keep the bullseye off of Green which may be what HAS to happen to land a cup, as we are constructed.